Schlitterbahn Park Progressing, Bringing Local Jobs

September 20, 2013 By


CORPUS CHRISTI — Work is continuing around the clock to finish the Schlitterbahn water park out on the island. Recent rain delays are causing a bit of a slowdown, but nothing substantial.

“They’re moving fast as you can see,” said General Manager Stan Hulse as he showed us around the park in progress.

Crews are working rain or shine. “Most of that dirt work is sand, so the water kind of seeps through it, so it may slow us down a little bit while it’s actually raining, but the crews can get right back out there,” Hulse said.

They’re also continuing construction around the clock. “We’ve even got a couple night crews that come in and do some work inside the clubhouse and so forth, so we’re taking advantage of all the time that we can,” explained Hulse.

The goal is to wrap up in time for Summer 2014. Behind the scenes, things are starting to take shape.

Hulse showed us a centerpiece area that will feature a river, a beach and a unique ride called ‘Shoot the Chute.’

“It goes down real fast and splashes water everywhere,” he described, adding it was similar to the type ride you might see at Disney.

While Hulse is excited about the progress, dozens of local workers are happy for the jobs. There are about 80 guys working construction there right now, about half of those are from the Coastal Bend. The plan is to hire even more before the job is complete. “We’ve got 80 now, I think you’ll see about a hundred later on and then as things move forward, they’ll be bringing in different crews for different aspects of the park,” said Hulse.

It’s a park that they hope will eventually bring big business to the Coastal Bend. As far as bringing business for local workers before that, though, there’s not an exact timeline just yet.

“There’s a lot of moving parts with this, mother nature plays a big part, there’s all sorts of different hurtles and obstacles as we move forward, a project this size, so right now, until we get a little bit closer, our official word is Summer of 2014 is when we’ll open,” Hulse said.

For more information and updates on the park and its progress, log onto the Schlitterbahn website.

via KRISTV.com

Filed Under: North Padre Island, Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Corpus Christi Schlitterbahn Park Being Fabricated in New Braunfels

July 24, 2013 By

Schlitterbahn is still scheduled to open on the Padre Island next summer, but you wouldn’t know it by passing by the park site. That’s because a lot of construction is being done in New Braunfels.

Just behind what will be the main entrance on Padre Island, construction crews are working on a pool. They’re building small huts, while at the clubhouse just across from it, construction is planned soon.

“There’s a crew that will be working at this building, they’re going to start refurbishing this building,” said General Manger Stan Hulse.

170 miles away though, in New Braunfels, screw pumps able to push 36,000 gallons of water are already built and ready to ship. So is a large butterfly for the children’s park and dozens and dozens of segments that will be put together for all those Schlitterbahn-famous slides!

The next step is shipping them here.

“Its such a huge endeavor that it’s already been the subject of a couple of episodes of Shipping Wars,” said Huse.

Yes, we could see those parts on national TV, although, that is still in the works.

Once the parts are shipped to Corpus Christi the park will come together rather quickly.

“It will almost look like its going up overnight,” Hulse said.

There’s no date set for putting together those components yet, but we’re told right now, the park is on schedule and we should see Schlitterbahn open its doors by Summer 2014.

via KRIS TV

Filed Under: North Padre Island Beaches, Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi Tagged With: ,

Breaking News on Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi

February 12, 2013 By

BREAKING NEWS:

Schlitterbahn

is breaking ground Friday at 2 pm for its new water park resort on North Padre Island.
Water park resort officials are expected Tuesday to finalize the land purchase and project financing, said Jeff Henry, co-owner of Schlitterbahn.

A couple weeks ago, the city granted a grading permit for the project, which allows the project to break ground. However, full construction permissions have not yet been granted, according to Mark Van Vleck, director of city’s development services.

Schlitterbahn had until the end of February to break ground in order to meet their $117 million economic development incentive with the city.

The $41 million resort planned west of Park Road 22 tentatively is set to open in March 2014. Early designs showed the project would include a 65-acre water park with lodging, golf and restaurants. It will be built on the existing golf course and tied into a master plan for the area that includes a marina in Lake Padre, an extension of the residential canal system, hotels, condos and single-family homes on about 500 acres of mostly undeveloped land.

Via. Caller.com

Come join the fun Islanders, we will be there with cameara’s documenting this momentous occasion.  As North Padre Island makes its biggest leap in the 21st century, we still can’t believe it’s here.  Thank You to all of you that kept your vision…the day is almost here!! ~Cheri

FREE SCHLITTERBAHN MAP & PROJECT DETAILS

Filed Under: North Padre Island, Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi Tagged With: , , ,

Schlitterbahn Update January 28th 2013

January 28, 2013 By


 
According to Schlitterbahn coowner Jeff Henry, the half-billion dollar Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Corpus Christi’s Padre Island is set to have a groundbreaking any day now.

The company has to begin construction by Feb. 22 as part of the deal Schlitterbahn has made with the City of Corpus Christi. The City has agreed to give the company $117 million in incentives to build the park on Padre Island on the site of the only golf course there.

The City said everything is now in place to get construction going.

Henry said  by phone that he is just waiting on a few legal issues to be wrapped up before breaking ground.

“Everything that they have done with the City is in line with accomplishing that goal,” Henry said. “They do have grading permits and are working to get everything going, so I anticipate something going soon.”

The park is set to open by March of 2014.

We are very excited here on the island to see this come to fruition, you can bet once they break ground we will be there capturing the moment and raising a glass to celebrate the biggest project ever to hit North Padre Island, Tx.
~Cheri Sperling

 
KiiiTV3.com

Filed Under: North Padre Island, Park Road 22 Proposed Bridge, Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi Tagged With: , , , ,

SCHLITTERBAHN DEVELOPER “Everything is on schedule for Spring 2014 opening!!

November 30, 2012 By

LATEST NEWS: The park developer and part-owner Jeff Henry says all is on schedule.  “Our concepts for the park haven’t changed much.  We are close to groundbreaking, and it always takes the lawyers and bankers twice as long to do their work as it takes for us to build it.  All the money is in place, financing for the project is completed and is ready to go.  The plans are done but will change right up to the time we start building.  Once ground is broken, we will be working straight through to completion.”

Jeff Henry also said his crews have begun to build the equipment at their construction yard at their New Braunfels headquarters; those include some of the castles and other custom equipment that his crews have also built for their other parks.  He also said his crews usually take two weeks off in December and equipment should begin arriving at the Island site around the end of December or early January.

The $41 million resort will be located on a 65-acre tract that is currently the site of Padre Isles Country Club on Padre Island.  While no new drawings of the park have been released in almost a year, the concepts haven’t changed much.  You can see the plans on the website:  FREE SCHLITTERBAHN MAP

With the $177 million Incentive Agreement with the city of Corpus Christi, Phase I of the park must be finished by summer 2013.  The water park is part of a proposed $552 million master plan for Padre Island, which investors Willard Hammonds, Paul Schexnailder and the Henry family (owners of Schlitterbahn) are developing.

They are shooting for an opening by Spring Break 2014 but it will probably be May 2014 before it actually opens – but no later than the summer of 2014.  They won’t move any dirt until everything is ready, all the way around, and then they will hit the ground running.

Phase I of the build out will include the water park and about 20 or so overnight stay rooms.  “After that we will build out as the market allows,” Jeff Henry says.  “We will get the park open and then expand as the market stabilizes.  Once that happens we will go to Phase II immediately.”

He expects Phase I of the park to require the hiring of about 20 local contractors who will be selected from a group of about 1,000 already compiled.  “We are the general contractor and we are responsible for seeing to it that everything is right and on time.”

He said Schlitterbahn will not be hiring off a low bid.  They will hire who they think can get the jobs done right and on time.  Their company is vertically integrated from design to finished construction and their crews know how to do every job required to keep the project on time and done right.  They will try to use as many local contractors and workers as they can.

Jeff Henry said there have been a couple of surprises as the process of planning and construction for the park has moved forward.  He said there are still some unresolved permitting issues with the Island Walk portion of the project which will be a 3500-foot canal connecting the water park on the west side of SPID to Lake Padre, where a marina is planned, via a 40-foot wide water exchange bridge under SPID.  The Island Walk will also connect the current canal system to Lake Padre and through it to the open Gulf of Mexico through Packery Channel.

There are plenty of places to begin building while any permitting issues for the Island Walk are worked out.  Henry says they are excited about the project and ready to hit the ground running around the first of the year.

We’ll keep you posted as to progress along with photos once things begin.  Happy Holidays to all of YOU!!

Cheri Sperling, Owner Coastline Properties

Filed Under: North Padre Island, North Padre Island Beaches, Packery Channel, Park Road 22 Proposed Bridge, Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi Tagged With: , , ,